Not Cool
by LadyShinigami12
Summary: Soul is shocked  and surprisingly hurt  when he finds out that Maka's going on a date with Kid. What will he do to break the couple up?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, I technically do have the other chapter ready. I'll post it tomorrow, in case I want to make any changes. Hope you like it! I don't own anything.**

Soul knocked—no, that wasn't the right word—Soul rammed against the bathroom door, towel in hand. "Maka! You've been in there for a whole hour! I need to take a shower!"

"I'll be out in just a minute!" She called back to him. She was acting awfully cheery today. She hadn't even Maka-chopped him when he burned the toast this morning. It was starting to get on Soul's nerves. No one, especially not Maka, could be perky for that long this early in the morning.

"That's it, I'm coming in!" Soul turned the handle to find Maka in a very nice, very short dress, with her nose less than an inch from the mirror. She turned to him and frowned.

"You idiot!" She yelled at him, "What if I was naked?" He wasn't sure how to answer that but he didn't have to. She went back to staring at herself in the mirror. She would flip one strand of hair to the left side of her face, then the right, then back again.

"What're you all dressed up for? You gotta date or something?"

She giggled a little into the mirror before smiling at him again. "None of your business!" Soul felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. Maka? Dating? She was always to busy studying, or something else smart! Who could have asked her anyway?

She bit her lip for a second before turning to him and grabbing him by the shoulders. He flinched. For some reason, it felt like her fingers were burning through him. That was ridiculous, she had touched him plenty of times before. "Tell me," she asked, her eyes piercing through him, "Does my hair look symmetrical?"

"Symmetrical?" Soul laughed nervously, "You sound like K-" he cut off mid-sentence as realization hit him. Kid? She was going on a date with Death the Kid? He could feel his face falling as his mouth turned into a perfect O. Something deep within his stomach was churning like a sea in a storm.

Maka's annoying giggle did not help. "I told you, it's none of your business!" She slipped past him and grabbed a backpack, being careful that the weight within was balanced evenly on both shoulders. "I'll probably be out for most of the day. I told Blair she could have the leftover fish we had for dinner. There's frozen meals in the freezer in case I'm not back for dinner."

"I know how to cook." Soul said indignantly.

She giggled again. "Yeah, that burnt toast this morning was a delicacy." She smiled and shook her head. "See ya!" She said over her shoulder and closed the door behind her.

Soul stared at the closed door for a full five minutes before he realized he still hadn't taken his shower.

"Remind me why we're here again?" Black Star said, playing with a rock in his hand.

"I have to know what's going on! I'm her weapon, I have to protect her." Soul was crouching behind a low wall, watching the door to the theater with the same attention one might give an approaching fireball.

"Keep telling yourself that." Black Star said getting up. "I'm going to go find something to do worthy of someone who has surpassed God."

"No!" Soul told him, pulling him down again, "I need you!"

"For what?" Black Star pushed his friend off him.

Soul thought quickly. "To sneak up on them, I'm gonna need the skills of the best assassin in the world!"

"Oooo! I can do that!" Black star knelt next to Soul, but soon got bored and began playing with the rock again. "How long are we gonna be out here?"

"I don't know." Soul said, trying to will the doors open and bring Maka out, preferably crying about something Kid did. What was he thinking? How could he wish Maka any pain? If Kid did hurt her, though, Soul would make sure he paid for it. That thought made him happy. "The movie ended ten minutes ago. What are they doing in there?"

"Probably making out." Soul wished he could chop Black Star the way Maka did. Because he couldn't, he decided to punch the blue-haired annoyance instead.

Finally, the doors opened and Maka and Kid came out laughing, hand in hand. Sudden images of beating Kid within an inch of his life entered Soul's mind. He realized for the first time he really hated Kid, with his stupid 3 stripes, and his skateboard, and his 'symmetry.' What a jerk.

"C'mon, Black Star," Soul said, not realizing how much anger was in his voice, "We're moving out."

"Finally." The two of them followed the couple down the street to a small restaurant, where they sat down at a table outside and ordered food.

They began talking. Soul stretched his ears trying to figure out what they were saying, but he only heard Maka's occasional laugh. This only made him angrier.

"You know, if you like her, you should just talk to her about it, instead of stalking her around the city." Black Star had started playing with the rock again.

"What?" Soul said, "I don't like her! Well, I mean I do like her, but not in the way your thinking. She's just my meister."

"What're you guys doing?" Soul and Black Star looked up to see Tsubaki, Liz, Patty and Crona walking towards them.

"Get down!" Soul whispered urgently at them. "They'll see you!" Crona and Patty crouched down almost immediately, Tsubaki went to sit next to Black Star, but Liz looked up to where Kid and Maka were before rolling her eyes and sitting down herself.

"Ooo! Are we playing hide and seek?" Patty asked gleefully.

"No Patty." Liz said, "Soul is spying on Maka."

"I am not spying!" Soul shouted, but when everyone (except Patty who was smushing ants) raised an eyebrow at him, he realized there really wasn't any other word for it. "Okay, so maybe I am, but it's for a completely legitimate reason!"

"Which is?" Tsubaki asked.

Soul opened his mouth, but couldn't come up with anything other than, "To protect my meister."

Liz rolled her eyes again. "You should just tell her how you feel."

"Yeah, I will." He said, they all seemed surprised and happy for a moment. "I will tell her exactly how I feel about that tight-ass, OCD, jerk!" He suddenly felt two fists ram into either side of his head. He opened his eyes to find Liz and Patty glaring at him.

"Sorry," Liz said, "I know you're feeling jealous, but we really can't have you talking that way about our meister."

Soul nodded to show he understood, before peering over the wall at the couple again. They had received their food, a plateful of pasta each. "I'm not jealous." He said. He could hear the exasperated sighs behind him. "What's there to be jealous of anyway? What's Kid have that I don't have?"

"Good grades, for a start." Liz said.

"He's neat and orderly." Tsubaki added.

"His father is Lord Death and he himself will inherit the title someday." Crona said.

"He gets to be in my presence everyday." Black Star said.

"Ooo! I know! He doesn't have pointy teeth!" Patty said.

"Okay! I get it! The guy has some good points." He turned back towards his friends. He couldn't bear to watch Maka laugh anymore. "But, he's still not as cool as me."

"Maka doesn't care about cool." Crona said. "She cares about kindness and making other people happy."

Soul looked down at his hands. He knew Crona was right. Maka always put others before herself. That was what made her such a cool partner.

But she doesn't care about cool, and cool was all Soul had. What else could Soul offer her than that?

What was he thinking? Offer her? Did he—was he-? He closed his eyes and accepted the truth. His friends were right. He was in love with Maka. He couldn't bear to see her with another guy. But he needed to move on. Whether he liked it or not, she WAS with another guy, and there was no chance she would love him even if she wasn't seeing Kid.

"I keep telling you." Black Star said, "Just tell the girl, and you'll feel a lot better."

"Yeah, like you would tell a girl if you liked her." Soul said bitterly.

"Sure I would! What kind of God would I be if I couldn't face a girl! Just watch!" He stood up and reached out a hand to his weapon. "Tsubaki, you're my girlfriend now. Let's go on a date!"

Tsubaki looked thunderstruck. "Wow, Black Star! I never thought you would ever ask me! Yeah, let's go!

The two of them got up together and walked back to the movie theater, hand in hand.

"He didn't ask her, he told her!" Soul said angrily.

"Yeah, well, for Black Star that was practically begging." Liz said. "I'd recommend asking Maka when you tell her you like her."

"I can't do that." Soul said. "I just can't. It would be too uncool."

Liz got up, dragging Patty with her. "You gotta make up your mind about what's cool, and what's right." Liz bent down again to pick Crona up off the ground, "Anyway, Patty and I are taking Crona shopping."

"Woohoo! Glitter clothes!" Patty nearly shouted.

"Just not too much glitter, okay?" Crona said as they started walking away, "last time, they blinded Ragnarok and he nearly tore up all my shirts, and I don't know how to deal without any shirts."

Soul turned back to Maka and Kid. They had finished eating, and Kid was paying for the meal. Soon they got up and started walking again.

Soul couldn't take one more second of their stupid date. When they finally had their backs facing him completely, he picked up a wad of dirt that smacked Kid straight in the back, and got in his hair.

Soul knelt back down, making sure he was completely out of sight, but smiled as he heard Kid scream "WHO THREW THAT! I SWEAR, I WILL MAKE WHOEVER HIT ME PAY FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE!"

"It's okay, Kid. Here, I'll take you home so you can change."

_There,_ Soul thought _That should put an end to that date_ but would it be enough to prevent them going on a second? Or a third? Or prevent Maka from becoming his girlfriend?

Soul kicked the rock Black Star had been playing with all the way back to his apartment. So, Maka didn't care about cool, huh? Well, he didn't have to be cool. In fact, he could be pretty uncool, if he wanted.

He stopped directly outside his apartment. Well, he couldn't change by himself, not overnight. He turned away from his building and headed across the street, taking out his phone.

"Ox." He said, before he could even say 'hello.' "I need a tutor."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: second and final chapter. It seemed a lot longer when I wrote it, but breaking it down, it fits into two halves pretty well. Once again, I don't own anything.**

Soul looked at his reflection in the mirror and was disgusted. He was just glad he decided not to take Ox's clothes as well as his school lessons, but still, his outfit was just far too—clean. He had a white, buttoned down shirt ironed so it lay flat on his arms and chest, which was tucked in to a freshly pressed pain of kaki pants. His shoes were polished, his belt lay smooth, and for good measure, he even wore a tie. He tried combing his hair as neatly as he could, but it wouldn't lay completely flat.

Added to that, his head was crammed full of the studying he did last night. He had never studied so hard unless there was an upcoming test, and even then it wasn't this bad. He was determined to be smarter than all the rest today. He might even be able to beat Maka, though he doubted it. At least he might be able to beat Kid.

He shook off his scowl and put a friendly smile on before walking out into the kitchen. "Good morning, Maka.: He said, hoping he sounded cheerful. "And what have you made for breakfast today?"

"French toast and—what on earth?" She stared at him in surprise, and (he hoped he wasn't imagining it) admiration. "What are you so dressed up for?"

"Oh, well, I was just thinking that because school is so important, we really should dress a little nicer for it, don't you think?" He carefully put a napkin on his lap and cut his French toast into perfect squares before eating it. He couldn't help glancing up at Maka every once in a while to see how she reacted. She certainly looked bewildered.

"You weren't home when I got back." Maka said, "Where'd you go?"

"Oh, I was off with friends." He said. "I have a lot of friends. I'm very friendly."

Soul couldn't read her expression this time. She seemed to be focusing very hard on her plate, as though she couldn't look into his eyes. He needed to step it up a notch.

"Well, shall we head off to school? He asked, getting his bag which he had spent the hour between midnight and one organizing.

"Why so early?" Maka asked.

"I just don't want to be late, that's all." Soul smiled at her.

"You're acting very strange today, Soul."

"Am I?" He asked, trying not to put too much emotion into it, "Maybe you're just seeing me differently today."

They walked downstairs, but Maka stopped once they were outside and asked, "Where's you bike?"

"Um, let's walk today. Fresh air, good exercise, all those wonderful things. But we must hurry. It will take us longer to get there than usual." They talked about classes on their way to school, and wondered what animal Stein might have them dissect that day. Soul hoped he impressed her with his new-found knowledge. It did bring a new level to their conversation.

When they finally arrived, Soul tried desperately to steer Maka away from Ox who was shouting, "Hey, Kim! Check out my new ride!" It pained him to part with the bike, even if it was just for the week, but if this worked it, was worth it.

They walked into class to find Kid, Liz, and Patty already there. Within a second, Maka left his side and went to sit next to Kid. He resolutely ignored Liz and Patty's greetings and quickly sat on Maka's other side. Instead of laying down on his desk like he normally did, he took out paper and pencils for notes.

"Whoa! Soul! Why are you dressed like that?" Black Star came up from behind him and pinched at his shirt.

"Shove off, man." He said, lapsing in his focus to being the perfect student. "This is simply my new look. I thought it was more appropriate."

"You look really nice." Tsubaki said, holding Black Star's hand. Their new status as a couple didn't seem to affect their relationship too much, except that Black Star now referred to her as 'THE CHOSEN ONE OF GOD!'

For the entire lesson, Soul paid attention, took notes, and answered every one of Professor Stein's questions. Maka did seem to be entirely surprised. There was practically no reaction at all from Kid.

After class, Maka started walking off with Kid, but Soul stopped her. "Maka!" He called. She looked up at him, as if she were waiting for something.

"Yes, Soul?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to—" He swallowed. Why couldn't he get the words out?

"Yes, Soul," Maka repeated. He felt like everyone's eyes were boring into the back of his skull.

"To come to the library and study with me." He finished.

"Oh." Maka said. Was it his imagination again, or did she look slightly disappointed. Maybe it was because he was just so disappointed.

They walked to the library together. He couldn't help smirking as he saw Kid watch them leave.

"I meant to ask you," Soul said when he was sure they were out of earshot, "How did your date go yesterday?" He tried his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but he knew he wasn't very convincing.

"Hmm?" Maka frowned at him.

"You spent the day with Kid yesterday? Remember?"

"Oh! Yeah! That was fun. Except at the end, some idiot got mud all over poor Kid."

It was odd, but Soul could have sworn Maka was trying to catch his eye as she was talking. Could she have seen him? No, if Maka knew he had followed her, he would have been Maka-chopped into next week.

"Oh, that's too bad." Soul said, avoiding her glance. "Are you thinking of going out again?"

"What?"

"With Kid!" Soul didn't know why he was getting angry. She seemed to make him clarify everything he said! Why? "Are you going to go on another date with Kid?"

She looked at him shocked. Suddenly, Soul felt guilty. He hadn't meant to yell at her, but he had been so frustrated all day with all the _smart kid_ stuff he was annoyed.

She bit her lip as if deciding what to say. "Why do you want to know?"

He frowned at her. He couldn't yell at her again. A number of excuses ran through his head. _I'm your weapon, I need to protect you, I'm your friend, I should know, _but in the end his head was so crammed he decided on the truth.

He closed his eyes. He couldn't look at her or he would lose his confidence. "Because I wanted to ask you out."

He clenched his eyes and fists, waiting for her answer.

"Are you asking me out?"

He was so angry she was asking him about what he said again, he opened his eyes to yell at her, but when he did, he realized she was smiling. More than that, he realized he was being watched by six pairs of eyes from behind a statue.

"Maka, what's going on?"

Kid, Liz, Patty, Black Star, Tsubaki, and Crona came out from behind the statue, all smiling (although Crona's was shaky). Kid was shaking his head, "Oh, Soul it was only too easy."

Patty and Black Star broke out in laughter. Liz shook her head just like her meister, "My favorite part was his face when we were comparing him to you, Kid. I wish I took pictures."

"My favorite part was the way he dressed up today!" Black Star screamed between fits of laughter. "You look like a nerd!"

"Hey! What's wrong with nerds!" Maka said and chopped him into the wall. Tsubaki immediately ran to care for her bleeding boyfriend.

"It. Was. All. Fake?" Soul fell to his knees in shock.

"Of course," Kid said, "As much as I care for Maka as a friend, your mutual affection for each other was far too obvious for me to simply ignore." Maka blushed so hard she resembled a tomato with pigtails.

"Yeah, but Maka said you wouldn't ask her out, because it wouldn't be cool." Crona said. Soul was about to argue, but realized it was true. "And so we encouraged Maka to ask _you_, but Maka said you would think a girl asking a-a dude" Soul didn't think he ever heard Crona say anything as casual as 'dude.' "would be even less cool. So Black Star thought we should make you ask her."

Soul eyed daggers at Black Star, who was still recovering from Maka's chop. Tsubaki however smiled meekly at him in apology.

"S-so, you all knew about this?"

"Well," Liz said, "We didn't tell Patty. She doesn't keep secrets very well."

"Nope!" Patty said before continuing to giggle.

"And it was all to just to get me to ask out Maka?"

"You really are thick aren't you?" A voice came from Crona's direction, but it was most certainly not Crona. In the blink of an eye, Ragnarok was peeking over Crona's shoulder. "Will you just make out with he or something so these idiots can stop blabbering about it?"

Soul stood up and looked at Kid. "Kid, I have to apologize. It was me that ruined your outfit. It was not cool."

"I know." Kid said, "We were trying to get you to follow us, remember? Here." Kid handed him a small piece of paper.

"What's this?" Soul asked.

"My dry cleaning bill. I told you I would make you pay." Kid smiled and raised his hand to signal his weapons and the rest of the gang away.

Soul watched them walk away, until he realized he was left alone with Maka again.

She was still smiling at him. "It was really sweet of you to try and impress me, but I like you for who you are, cool and all."

Soul smiled, and with a swift movement he pulled off his tie and messed up his hair. Maka smiled again.

"You know," She said, "You never answered my question." Soul frowned. "Are you asking me out?"

Soul smiled.


End file.
